PACIFIC WORLD - The Institute of Buddhist Studies

286Pacific Worldcontemporary observer—for a tradition that theoretically goes throughand beyond the limitations of our gendered human bodies, that realizesthat ultimately we are neither male or female, when it comes to enlightenedenergies, which both Prajñåpåramitå and Tårå symbolize, how is it that wenever see sacred art expressing their union? Who has ever heard of thesådhana where practitioners are taught to visualize the “nectar” of theirsacred union pouring over them? While Simmer-Brown does not reallyaddress or answer that question in her work, she indicates an importantdirection for further research and scholarship.What remains to be done is a serious application of the tantricprinciples of heruka and wisdom dakini to homosexual identityand relationship, and to the study of embodiment (p. 289).To that I would add the need for study as to the application of theseprinciples for other expressions of sacred sexuality transgendered, intersexual,bisexual, and asexual identity and relationship as well. Little isknown about who and how the ∂åkin∆-s are unto themselves, among other∂åkin∆-s, and for female yoginis. Stories abound about the fabulous “∂åkin∆feasts” where they gather amongst themselves in raucous and joyfulrevelry, indicating some kind of ∂åkin∆ sisterhood. But these proceedingsare shrouded in secrecy as ∂åkin∆-s are said to speak their own speciallanguage that the uninitiated are unable to fathom. For a philosophical andpractical framework that sees our primordial ground of being as one of vastopen space, one can imagine that there might be room for honoring thesacredness of myriad forms of sexual expression.Simmer-Brown is sensitive to the fact that while Western scholars andpractitioners have been intrigued, perhaps even titillated, by the ∂åkin∆phenomena, the holders of the Tibetan lineages have become very protectiveof the ∂åkin∆-s. These sky-going, space-traveling women are, in a way,the holy of holies of this tradition.The dakini lore is one of the most revered and guarded of Tibetanesoteric symbolic teachings. Many diaspora Tibetan lamas havebecome concerned about interpretations they have encounteredamong Western observers, especially on topics as vulnerable tofeminist scrutiny as the dakini and related understandings ofsexuality. These lamas have seen their most sacred understandingsinterpreted through the lens of feminist critique in destructiveways that they feel denigrate the lama, the profound practices, andthe effectiveness of teaching environments in the West (p. xviii).That question persists of how we can respect a tradition, revere it even tothe points of practice and realization, yet still keep our critical wits about